Apple AirPlay over BT coming, accessory makers get to work

Apple is set to start cramming a new Bluetooth chip inside its devices according to a source cited by 9to5Mac. Apple unveiled the newly certified chip at a conference in Shenzen, China to 2,000 attendees that are all part of the made for iPhone/iPod/iPad program. The new chip will allow the expansion of the accessory market for the Apple gadgets.

With the new chip, the Apple gear will be able to stream music over WiFi using Airplay and will be able to stream to devices using Bluetooth 4.0 as well. That would allow Airplay devices to work together when there is no WiFi network present. AirPlay already has limited support for Bluetooth as it is now using the AD2P protocol.

The new Bluetooth 4.0 push hasn't been confirmed by Apple, but considering Apple is on the Bluetooth SIG board of directors it would be easy to see this coming. The good thing about Bluetooth 4.0 is the relatively long range of 50M, and the fact that it uses little power and has low latency as well.